Abstract

Background:
Health literacy concerns the ability of citizens to meet the complex demands of health in modern society. Data on the distribution of health literacy in general populations and how health literacy impacts health behavior and general health remains scarce. The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of health literacy levels and associations of health literacy with socioeconomic position, health risk behavior, and health status at a population level.

Conclusions:
Despite a relatively highly educated population, the prevalence of inadequate health literacy is high. Inadequate health literacy is strongly associated with a low socioeconomic position, poor health status, inactivity, and overweight, but to a lesser extent with health behavior factors such as smoking and high alcohol consumption.

Conflict of interest statement

MTS reports grants from the Helsefonden, the Health Research Foundation of the North Denmark Region, and the Maria Pedersen and Jensine Heiberg Foundation, during the conduct of the study. CTP reports grants and speaker honorarium from Bayer. HB is a member of the editorial board in the BMC Public Health journal. The other authors report no disclosures.